


Underneath Your Clothes

by JennerJen



Series: Underneath Your Clothes [2]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky hates himself, Getting Together, Language, M/M, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony's a schemer, body issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-28
Updated: 2015-06-03
Packaged: 2018-04-01 17:07:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4027990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennerJen/pseuds/JennerJen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People should know by now not to sneak around Tony or offer him a mystery. He just wants Barnes to get naked... Wait no, he just wants to see what he's hiding under his clothes. That's all. For curiosity's sake. No other reason. Nope.</p>
<p>Bucky has scars from his time as the Winter Soldier, not just the arm, marks on his body he's ashamed to let the others see. He remains fully clothed when around everyone, and it's pissing Tony off. When Tony finally sees him, he lets him know his body isn't anything to be ashamed of. He should be proud, because he SURVIVED.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Plan

**Author's Note:**

> Got the idea when I saw this picture: http://inediblesushi.tumblr.com/post/116888859536/give-me-thick-solid-bucky-or-give-me-death-tbh  
> And thought, "I wonder if he would've always been that comfortable showing off his battle wounds." Which led to this. Hope you enjoy.

It was weird, Tony thought. Ever since Barnes had been manhandled into his tower by the good Captain and his birdy sidekick, he'd never seen the guy dressed down. Oh sure, he'd taken to sweatpants and baggy long sleeved shirts, but whereas even Rogers would strip down to a ridiculous tank type like thing during training (and good lord, did he need to order him clothes that fit, for fucks sake,) Barnes would stay fully clothed. Sweat would disappear into the shirts collar, make interesting patterns, would make the shirt cling.

And yeah ok, so maybe Tony just wanted to see what was under there. A bit. For scientific reasons obviously, because 'dat arm'. It was starting to bug him, just a little. It was getting hotter out, and maybe, you know he cheated a teensy bit and got Jarvis to maybe not have the AC on as high as it should go. Or, he may have turned up the heat instead. 

But Barnes stayed fully clothed. Even when the other Avengers started complaining and Tony had to make up excuses about running maintenance scans, 'sorry guys just a system hiccup,' even when they started wearing less to wander around the tower, (and who knew BARTON had legs?), Barnes would sit in his Henley. Sweat would bead on his temple, a flush would peak out from under the collar, but he remained steadfast in his fashion choice. 

And Tony was at his breaking point. He wanted, no needed, to see what he was hiding. Because honestly, this man was sporting some serious tech and hadn't let Tony even catch a glimpse of it yet? Not fair. It was practically a criminal offense. It was waving a red flag at a bull. Everyone should know by now that Tony gets what he wants, eventually, and usually by not playing fair. He'd tried suggesting casually to Rogers that anytime his boy needed a tune up to let him know. He probably shouldn't have used the phrase 'one armed Russian bandit', but it was late/early, and Tony had only started on his second cup of coffee so shouldn't be held accountable for stuff he said while under caffeinated. 

When the chance finally came, two weeks later and a lucky shot from that days attempted villainy takeover, Tony was almost bouncing. He had had Jarvis lead Barnes to his workshop, after promising Captain Uptight that he'd treat him with respect and even call him in the morning. (Tony was a gentleman after all.)

Walking into the lab, he noticed Barnes sitting at a work station, the uniform vest and cache of weapons discarded on the floor. The metal arm shone under the lights, teasing Tony. Battle was the only time Tony got to see it, and to see it outside of a fight gave him pause. It really was beautiful. Not just on an aesthetic level, the science behind it gave him a hard on. The engineering that went into building it made his inner geek rub his hands together in glee.

Tony realized that while he'd been staring at the arm Barnes was holding to his chest, he had hunched his shoulders and turned slightly away from Tony. He was also avoiding all eye contact. Well that just wouldn't do. Tony was used to people looking at him, and he wanted Barnes to look at him. Huh... When did that happen?

"Hey Comrade," and God, he really needed to tone it down around this guy if he ever wanted to look at the arm again. "Let's see what damage that moron managed to do." 

"...s'nothn." Barnes mumbled quietly. Eyes flicked quickly over to Tony, who had stopped about an arms (HA) length away from him, before landing back on a grease spot Dummy had missed when cleaning the floor. 

"Hmmm, sorry what was that? I speak five languages but "muttering" isn't one of them. Speak now or don't and then we'll all be in trouble when I do something you don't like or end up inadvertently hurting you. Which, really something I don't want to do, because you got that whole Super Soldier serum thing going on, plus being a master assassin and I really don't like my odds of coming out of that unscathed." During his rambling, Barnes' head had shot up and he was staring at Tony with wide eyes, head shaking no furiously. 

"No!" Barnes burst out. "I know ya wouldn't hurt me on purpose or 'nything." The wide eyes were staring at Tony, begging him to believe him, but the faint tremors rocking his body wasn't making it easy on Tony. 

Letting out a heavy sigh, Tony took a step back and held his hands up, palms facing Barnes in a 'Hey look at me, I'm harmless' gesture. "Look," Tony began, right hand lifting to run through his hair, then tugging hard near the nape. "I don't want to hurt you at all, purposely or not. I just wanna help you Barnes and-"

"Bucky."

Tony blinked at the interruption. The shaking seemed to have stopped, and Bar-BUCKY- was looking right into Tony's eyes. His jaw was clenched, his eyes still a little wild, but his chin was tilted up determinedly. "If you're 'bout to get all up and personal with me, you should probably call me somethin' l'il bit friendlier than Barnes pal." A barely there upturning on the left side of his mouth had Tony squinting at him before his left hand raised and pointed directly at Bucky's face, "Holy shit! Are you... did... was that a joke? A flirty joke?! Are you hitting on me?" 

"What?!" And yup, way to go Stark, you scared him again. "I ain't gonna hit ya! I wouldn't hurt you! Ever. I lik-" Mouth snapping shut, eyes back on the grease spot and a bright red blush exploded across Bucky's cheeks. 

Tony’s arms slowly lowered, he managed to close his mouth and then he tilted his head to the side. “You know,” taking a step closer to Bar- Bucky, God, BUCKY- “Red is one of my favorite colors, and it just so happens to look radiant on you.” Another small step closer and Tony could feel the heat coming off Bucky’s body. He stood to the left, staring down at the mangled arm still held close to Bucky’s chest. “I wasn’t sure what the deal was, figured Spangles had warned you off, and that’s why you were avoiding me. But that’s not the problem here is it?” A huge grin started to spread across Tony’s face. Bucky was still refusing to look at him, but the red that had started to fade came back. 

“Hey,” Tony said much softer, grin lessening to a gentle smile. “Eyes up soldier.” Bucky’s head jerked up and his baby blue’s met Tony’s mischievous brown. “Bucky.” Huh. Saying it loud for the first time felt…good. Judging by the way Bucky’s eyes slid closed and the way the tension seemed to melt right out of him, Tony guessed he liked it too. 

“Bucky,” and yeah, he could totally get used to saying that, “You like me. Like, more than friends, right? Which, honestly, I didn’t think we even were, you know, with the whole avoiding me thing, but you like me and that’s awesome. That’s great! …Does Cap know? You probably shouldn’t tell him, I mean, you may get his Patriotic briefs in a bunch, him knowing his bestie for life is crushing on Iron Man. But, really, I don’t blame you, I am pretty great and-“ A sharp tug on Tony’s flailing left arm had him sprawling onto Bucky’s lap. 

“Ya get babbly when you’re nervous, eh fella?” Oh hello there. That voice growled low in Tony’s ear, and the week old scruff on Bucky’s face tickled Tony’s jawline. A whimper may have escaped Tony, as he rocked in Bucky’s lap, and an echoing whimper, this one of pain, came from Bucky when Tony accidently jostled the injured arm. 

Awkwardly coughing, Tony adjusted himself so he wasn’t pressed as close to Bucky’s arm. “Sorry. Priorities though. I need to fix that, and then we can do something ‘bout this,” grinding against Bucky’s erection. Bucky’s head tilted back, baring his throat, to which Tony placed a kiss against his pulse. Tony was able to feel the vibrations of the low groan from where his lips were placed. Bucky’s right hand slid up Tony’s thigh and came to rest on his hip. It squeezed him once, twice, before continuing it’s upwards journey, briefly pausing to thumb a nipple, stopping to cup Tony’s face. Pulling his face away from Bucky’s neck was probably one of the hardest things in his life, but it was worth it to see the look in Bucky’s eyes and to feel his thumb brush across his cheek tenderly. 

This…. This was probably going to be the start of something great. 

Now to get him out of those clothes…


	2. Bucky's Self Worth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First I'd like to thank everyone who left kudos, commented and subscribed. It's so amazing guys! THANK YOU!!  
> So I'd like to apologize for what you're about to read. I'm sorry, so very sorry. I promised a two chapter story & sexy times and instead it's angst and still one more chapter. (I think it'll only be three chapters...maybe four?)  
> But poor Bucky. I feel bad...

After several more kisses, and promises of later, Tony finally got a chance to look at Bucky’s arm. It turned out to be more cosmetic than anything else, but while he was poking around in the innards of technological genius (and he only mentioned four times how upset he was that HE hadn’t been the one to design it, a dismissive sniff each time,) he was throwing up suggestions of improvements as well as asking Bucky if there was anything he’d like changed, because he was considerate, thank you very much. 

“Just want it to work,” Bucky grinned at Tony. They both watched as he curled his fingers into a fist trying out the adjustments Tony had made to the dexterity. As he slowly unclenched, and wow was that smoother, the slight lag he had long since learned to compensate for, gone, he heard Tony take a sharp breath inward. When he looked up into his face, he was instantly distracted, and aroused, by the blatant heat in Tony’s eyes. Eyes that were locked onto his metal fingers. 

Wanting to see Tony’s reaction, Bucky slowly, achingly slowly, moved each finger individually, curled them, and then twisted his wrist so his palm was facing upwards. His eyes never left Tony’s face during his test, so he was able to see the brown in his eyes be replaced as his pupils grew, the barest hint of pink spread across his nose and his cheeks, his lips parting and when his tongue came out to wet them, Bucky couldn’t take it any more. He used his right hand to grab onto Tony’s shirt and drag him into an absolutely filthy kiss. He swallowed down the moan and licked into Tony’s mouth. Tony’s hands were tangled in Bucky’s hair, gripping hard, grounding himself. He used his grip to angle Bucky’s head just a nudge and oh yeah. That… that was good. 

Bucky let go of the shirt and moved his hand down to slide under it running up the abs he was surprised to feel and around to Tony’s back to haul him in closer. When Tony abruptly pulled away, Bucky made a noise of disappointment that he would swear never happened, and looked up at Tony confused. Tony, who was flushed red and panting.

“Hold up soldier. Gotta finish putting Humpty Dumpty back together again, and then we can continue this.”

~*~

Turns out continuing wasn't happening. 

Like…at all. Ever maybe, if Bucky couldn't pull his shit together. He knew he had issues all right, quite frankly he was impressed with how far he’d actually come, but some things still lingered behind. Unlike the plethora of mental and emotional baggage he carried, (which thanks to Sam he was dealing with ok?) these were physical and not as easy to overcome.

He was talking about the scars. There weren’t a lot of them, because Bucky was DAMN good at what he did, even if he did it under the control of an evil organization, but the ones he did have were deep and ugly, and he couldn’t remember how he got them. Oh, he could tell what most were, like the bullet hole in his upper right thigh, the knife slashes across his left pectoral & upper right shoulder, the stab wound to his left side in between the third and fourth ribs. The whip marks on his back. The burn marks on his calves. He wasn’t sure if knowing how he got them would be better than not knowing. What he did know was he was ashamed. They showed what he was…what he had been. A killing puppet. Someone, something, less than human. 

Every time he had looked into the mirror, all he could see were reminders of what he had allowed to happen. If he’d only been better, faster, stronger. If only he’d been smarter, he wouldn’t have been so susceptible to Hydra’s experiments. If only, if only, if ONLY. He would trace the ragged edges of the knife wound on his right shoulder, wishing he could feel it with his metal fingers. He was broken, blemished, used. 

So it was completely understandable that he had taken to wearing clothes that fully covered him at all times. The metal of his exposed hand would catch and reflect light, throw it around the room, and he’d seen the way the others would cringe away from it. (they knew, they KNEW what he was, what that hand had done). He’d hide it away in the pockets of the sweat pants he stole from Steve, in the pouch of an extra large hoody Sam had given him, and if those weren’t options, he’d hide it in the folds of his crossed arms. He’d try to hide what he WAS. He was trying, he was trying so damn hard to be the Bucky Steve remembered. But he wasn’t, not any more. He couldn’t recall parts of his past, everything was a blur, and he honestly did not want to remember the missions he’d been sent on. All the lives he’d taken. 

Which brings us to now…

Bucky standing in his briefs in front of the mirror in the room Stark, TONY, had given him. He stood and stared at his wrecked body and all the dark thoughts he’d worked so hard to move past flooded in.

He had fled the workshop, like a coward. Tony had finished his arm, and then pulled Bucky into a kiss. At first, it wasn’t a problem, the kissing was nice, but then Tony’s hands had wandered, slipped under Bucky’s shirt. Tony had barely had a chance to graze the scar on his ribs before Bucky was pulling back from the kiss and high-tailing it out of there, Tony’s confused shouts following him. 

“How could he want this?” Bucky muttered as he twisted to look at the damage on his back. The reflection blurred, and tears welled up. He turned back around to take in the mess that he was. With a choked sob, his flesh hand impacted and shattered the image. He dropped to his knees, hands on the floor in front of him and let out heavy gasping sobs. God, he was pathetic. Absolutely disgusting and worthless and Fuck…FUCK.

He wrapped his hands around his waist, a poor imitation of a hug he’d never get now, not now after running away from Tony. He bent forward until his head rested on the floor and cried. It hurt. It hurt so bad. He just wanted… he needed Tony. He had fallen so hard and he’d blown it and god his head hurt, his hand was a bloody mess and he couldn't stop crying, giant hiccuping sobs now. How could he be so stupid as to think things would’ve worked out. It was hilarious, he thought, small chuckles that turned into dark laughter overriding the crying. Bucky Barnes didn’t get ‘nice things’, not after every thing he’d done. 

He’d just have to remember that from now on

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgiveness?  
> I will make things better, promise.  
> I've also started a prequel to this story, 5 Times Bucky Avoided Tony(Title pending) which I'll post once I'm done this pile of tears.  
> Follow me on Tumblr at lilragekitten. Chris Evans, Tom Hiddleston, kitties and random insights into my life.


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